10 Myths About Spanish Real Estate That Don’t Stand Up to the Facts

Spain is the fourth-largest economy in the eurozone and one of Europe’s most sought-after destinations for living and investment. In 2025, the country welcomed a record 96.8 million international tourists — the highest number ever recorded. The average housing price also reached an all-time high by the end of the same year, rising by around 13%, while supply continues to lag behind demand: according to the Bank of Spain, the country’s housing shortage has reached 750,000 units.

The market is growing, and myths naturally grow around it as well — from stories about illegal property occupation to predictions of an “imminent crash.” These narratives spread faster than statistics, and they are often what prevents people from making balanced, well-informed decisions.

“People are very often afraid of completely different risks from the ones they should actually be concerned about.” — Yuriy Hrushetskyi, founder and CEO of Deniz Estate

In this article, we examine ten of the most common myths about Spanish real estate and compare them with facts and the practical experience of real transactions. The material will help distinguish the risks that genuinely need to be considered before a purchase from background information noise.

Myth 1. “Spain is about to face another crisis — investing now is dangerous”

Reality: cyclicality is a feature of every economy, not a flaw in the Spanish property market. What matters is not the existence of a cycle itself, but the investment horizon.

Developed economies move in waves: periods of growth are followed by corrections or slowdowns, after which the market turns upward again. The fundamental difference between emerging markets and conservative markets such as Spain lies in the scale and frequency of those cycles. In the former, crises may occur every three to five years and can be painful. In the latter, they occur once every fifteen to twenty years, while governments develop protective mechanisms that soften the impact on both the population and investors.

The 2008 crisis remains the best illustration. Speculative investors who bought at the peak and sold during the downturn did indeed suffer losses. Those who followed a long-term strategy, however, did not merely recover their investment — they multiplied their capital several times over.

“For an ordinary person, a crisis is a problem. For an experienced investor, it is an opportunity. These are exactly the periods when you can buy liquid assets that were inaccessible at the top of the market because there was a queue for them.” — Yuriy Hrushetskyi

What is happening in Spain now? It is not a real estate crisis but a shortage crisis. New housing is being built more slowly than demand is increasing — hence the Bank of Spain’s estimate of a 750,000-unit housing deficit and the record prices seen in 2025. This is not an argument for buying immediately and without proper calculations. But it is certainly not an argument for “waiting for the market to crash.”

The practical conclusion is simple: conservative markets require long investment horizons. Local downturns and periods of overheating tend to even out over a ten-year period — provided you are buying an asset as part of a strategy rather than trying to time the market.

Myth 2. “Europe has been unsafe since 2022, and Spain is no exception”

Reality: Spain is one of Europe’s most predictable countries. It is the EU’s fourth-largest economy, a NATO member since 1982, and a country that has not experienced warfare on its territory since 1939.

No analyst can reliably predict the geopolitical future, and the only time-tested tool for dealing with this uncertainty has long been known: diversification of assets across countries and currencies.

At the same time, Spain has a strong factual foundation. Private property rights are protected, democratic institutions have functioned for decades, and the rules for foreign investors are transparent — from the property registry to tax reporting. Since the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939, there have been no internal or external armed conflicts on Spanish territory.

There is also a more visible indicator of stability: people’s behavior. Families with children, entrepreneurs, and investors who can choose virtually any country in the world as their place of residence continue to choose Spain year after year.

“People vote not with words, but with their money and their way of life.” — Yuriy Hrushetskyi

The migration of wealthy Europeans to Barcelona, Marbella, and the Balearic Islands is a significant indicator. Large capital rarely misjudges a country.

Myth 3. “Climate change and natural disasters will make life in Spain uncomfortable”

Reality: in terms of natural conditions, Spain is one of Europe’s most comfortable countries. People move here not despite the climate, but because of it.

The Mediterranean coast does not experience hurricanes, tsunamis, or destructive earthquakes, while seismic activity is noticeably lower than in neighboring Greece, Italy, or Turkey. The climate is mild, with more than 300 sunny days per year.

Costa Blanca deserves particular mention. The region has no heavy industry, while the salt lakes of Torrevieja, together with the surrounding pine forests, create a microclimate that medical professionals have traditionally regarded as one of the healthiest in Europe. People with respiratory conditions such as asthma or bronchitis are often advised by doctors to spend time on Spain’s southeastern coast, including as part of their therapy. Living permanently in such a climate can itself serve as a form of prevention.

For the sake of objectivity: no country is completely protected from destructive natural forces, and Spain is no exception. This is not an argument against purchasing property; it is an argument for choosing a location and developer based on proper analysis — which, in fact, applies to any country.

Myth 4. “Migration will make Spain overcrowded and reduce the value of its regions”

Reality: migration in Spain is not a chaotic process but a deliberate economic strategy. It is more likely to support property values than undermine them.

The country’s population is indeed growing, and migration has long been a politically charged topic in Europe. However, it is important to understand the scale and structure of these processes. Spain is not just Madrid and Barcelona: it is a large country with dozens of regions where population density is moderate by European standards. Most immigration comes from Latin American countries, whose citizens are culturally and linguistically close to Spaniards and tend to integrate quickly. The government views this inflow as a way of offsetting demographic decline: Spanish society is aging, birth rates are falling, and without new arrivals the economy would struggle to maintain its current pace.

For buyers, this has two practical consequences. First, there is a sufficient workforce in construction, services, and rentals, meaning the property service infrastructure does not face severe labor shortages. Second, well-established procedures for foreigners also make relocation easier. A particular tourist neighborhood can certainly become overcrowded — which is precisely why location selection should be based on analysis rather than dramatic headlines.

Myth 5. “Okupas: property owners cannot protect their homes”

Reality: this is the most exaggerated myth about Spain. The problem does exist, but its scale bears little resemblance to the image portrayed on social media, and property owners have effective legal and insurance mechanisms available to protect themselves.

Stories about unlawful property occupation have become a recurring genre in Spanish social media content. The reality is more mundane: properties targeted for illegal occupation are almost always problematic units — abandoned homes, bank-owned properties, homes that have stood vacant for years, or properties in disadvantaged neighborhoods. In other words, they tend to be homes nobody is monitoring and around which nobody is living.

“In more than ten years of working in the Spanish market, we have encountered illegal property occupation literally only a few times — and in every case the matter was resolved through legal and insurance mechanisms within three to six months.” — Yuriy Hrushetskyi

The situation is similar in France and Germany — Spain simply receives more media attention. Property rights here are protected when contracts are properly prepared with lawyers and the properties are insured.

Preventing illegal property occupation comes down to four measures:

• do not buy properties in disadvantaged areas — unusually attractive prices there are rarely accidental;
• arrange rental agreements through a lawyer or property management company;
• purchase an insurance policy covering the relevant risks — approximately €30 per year;
• install an alarm system — subscriptions with major providers cost around €25 per month.

For a good property in a normal neighborhood with professional management, these measures are more than sufficient.

Myth 6. “A developer can abandon a construction project, just as happens back home”

Reality: Spanish legislation is designed from the outset so that the fate of a construction project does not depend solely on the developer’s word.

Fear of unfinished developments is a legacy of post-Soviet property markets, and for many buyers that fear is understandable. Spain, however, operates under a fundamentally different model.

The bank plays the central role. When purchasing a home during the construction stage, buyers’ advance payments are made exclusively into a dedicated bank account secured by a bank guarantee. A developer cannot simply collect money, fence off the site, and begin a new project using funds from the previous one: the construction is financed by a lending institution that monitors project milestones and ensures that funds are used for their intended purpose. The developer’s financial capacity is checked before sales even begin. Completed residential property is also covered by mandatory ten-year structural insurance known as seguro decenal.

The incentives of the parties are also different: the developer’s funds remain blocked in accounts until the project is completed, meaning every month of delay results in a direct financial loss. The financing bank monitors deadlines even before the buyer does.

“In Ukraine, construction delays are often treated as normal. In Spain, even a one-month delay causes concern — first and foremost for the bank financing the developer.” — Yuriy Hrushetskyi

In more than ten years of operation, the longest delay encountered by the Deniz Estate team was approximately three months — and that was considered an exception. This is precisely why investments in Spanish new-build properties are so popular among foreign buyers: the market model eliminates one of the investor’s biggest fears during the construction stage.

Myth 7. “Tourist rentals are being banned — Spain’s income-generating property model is dead”

Reality: restrictions are introduced by individual cities, not by the entire country. Spain has hundreds of resort destinations where short-term rentals remain legal and profitable — the key is to establish this before purchasing rather than afterward.

In Barcelona, for example, the authorities decided not to renew any of the existing licenses for short-term apartment rentals — all of them will expire by November 2028. Valencia, Alicante, and several other major tourist destinations have also introduced moratoriums on new licenses. The reason is not opposition to investors, but an attempt to preserve balance: tourist numbers continue to break records year after year, and residents of overcrowded cities are demanding measures to ease pressure on the housing stock.

Spain, however, is much more than three cities. Along the southern coast, where Deniz Estate operates, there are many resort destinations where tourist licenses remain available and the application process takes around two weeks. Where demand is not overheated, restrictions are absent — and returns may even be higher than in saturated metropolitan areas.

“This is not a risk inherent to Spain itself. The risk is buying a property without first understanding exactly how you intend to use it and how you plan to make money from it.” — Yuriy Hrushetskyi

This leads to a rule that can prevent the most common mistake: first determine the goal — living, long-term rental, or a tourist rental business — and only then choose the region and property that fit that objective. The “I’ll buy first and figure it out later” strategy is the most expensive one in this market.

Myth 8. “Spain is unsafe — crime levels are too high”

Reality: in terms of peaceful living conditions, Spain consistently ranks among the world’s top 30 countries — 27th out of 163 countries in the 2026 Global Peace Index.

Crime exists wherever there are large cities, and Spain is no exception. Pickpocketing in tourist areas of Barcelona and Madrid is a genuine issue, and locals rightly warn visitors about it: keep an eye on your bag on the metro and along promenades, just as you would in any major city in the world.

However, having a phone stolen is not an argument against buying an apartment. The level of violent crime and the overall sense of safety in Spain are such that people from Eastern Europe often compare it with a quiet provincial city.

“Clients arrive with fears, and after a few months they all repeat the same phrase: ‘Somehow, it actually feels even calmer here.’” — Yuriy Hrushetskyi

The Spanish pace of life quickly becomes appealing: nobody is constantly rushing anywhere, and things happen in a measured and predictable way. For most of our clients, this has been the biggest surprise after relocating.

Myth 9. “It is impossible to manage an apartment in another country”

Reality: this is not a risk but a matter of service. And the property management infrastructure in Spain has long been well established.

Around half of Deniz Estate’s clients spend only one or two months per year in Spain. During the rest of the year, their apartments do not remain vacant: the owner hands the property over to a management company, and their involvement in day-to-day operations effectively ends there.

The Deniz Management division handles the full cycle: long-term and short-term rentals, communication with tenants, monitoring the condition of the property, cleaning, technical issues, and everyday support. If the owner comes to stay for a couple of weeks, the apartment is prepared for their arrival just like a hotel room.

Remote ownership of Spanish property is well established both legally and technically: transactions can be completed under a power of attorney, payments are processed through banks, and tax reporting is handled by a tax representative. More than one-third of Deniz Estate’s transactions in Spain last year were completed remotely, without the buyer traveling to the country.

Myth 10. “The main thing is to buy an apartment — everything else will sort itself out”

Reality: most problems in the Spanish property market are caused not by the country or its laws, but by random intermediaries. The biggest risk is entrusting an investment to unqualified professionals.

Of all ten risks, this is the only one that could reasonably be placed first. It is not illegal property occupation, migration, or market cycles, but rather unqualified intermediaries with no office, no team, and no legal expertise who appeared in response to rising demand.

To verify an intermediary when buying property in Spain, it is enough to get clear answers to several questions: Does the company have an office and a team? Are lawyers employed in-house? Does it have its own property management company? How many years has it operated in the market? How many properties has it sold? How many clients has it supported through the full process? What do actual buyers say about it? What should be evaluated is not an agency’s presentation, but its real cases and recommendations.

“Buying property does not end when you receive the keys. In fact, that is when everything is only beginning.” — Yuriy Hrushetskyi

Once the contract is signed, the main work begins: registering ownership rights, handling taxes, connecting utilities, launching the rental model, and resolving everyday and legal matters. Depending on the individual situation — family composition, residency, tax residency, and source of funds — there can easily be dozens of such issues. That is